22 miles from hell
by MarenMary93
Summary: Somalia 1993. Jack, Boxer, Charlie and some other Delta Force Operators are getting ready to fly out to Mogadishu. (This is before Pete, Duncan and Cooper join the team, because they're not grown ups yet. -But you get Charlie, Cooper's older brother...) (Yup, I'm borrowing Boxer from Gib, again...) Story inspired by the Markus Fox song '22 miles from hell'.
1. Chapter 1

**Okay… So I wrote like four different starts for this one. My document has a page-length block of yellow lined text, half a page with purple lined and almost 2 pages of green lined text, because I hate to delete stuff. Much better to just leave it out of what I'm going to post…**

 **But this has definitely been the hardest one to start…**

 **I would like to thank Gib, for letting me run wild with her characters. –Thank you!- (And as usual I hope I don't screw them up… (too much))**

 **Also, needed something to switch over to from 'Michelle'. (Relax, that story will probably go on for some time, but I needed something different to play with too…)**

Charlie sat on his bunk, an old Oakland Raiders cap turned back over his dirty-blond, sun bleached hair.

"Come on Lea, you're gonna make a move or not?" Bryan pressed.

"As soon as you learn how to say my last name… It doesn't sound like Lee," Charlie shot back, "It sounds like Le(h)-ah…"

"It's not my fault your family name is next to impossible to say!" Bryan frowned.

"It's easy!" Charlie shrugged as he studied his cards. "It's literally just three letters! All the others here can say it!"

"No! You and your Viking ancestors are making it hard for the rest of us!" Bryan groaned, earning himself hollering laughter from both Boxer and Jack. "It's no fun, your name is hell to pronounce and you're too damn tall!"

The last sting had Jack wiping his eyes. It was the truth, Charlie was tall. Taller than the rest of the team, easy.

"Now, that's a low blow…" Charlie winked, "But just what you'd expect from a guy topping off at 5'4"…"

"I'm 5'6"!" Bryan corrected, glaring daggers at the tallest member of their unit.

"Now, kids…" a deep bass voice sounded from the other side of the tent, it was their leader Jerry Kammer. "Play nice to each other…"

"Okay 'dad'…" Charlie scrounged up his nose, before he directed his attention back to Bryan again, "Chances are, I won't be the tallest one in my family in a few years…"

"Huh?"

"My kid brother, he's at least as tall as I was when I was 11…" Charlie shrugged, "He's skinny though, probably won't be much of a soldier…"

Bryan shook his head and lit up another smoke. Took a deep pull to calm himself, more from Charlie's teasing than the missiles raining down a few miles east.

He blew the smoke out, directed at Charlie.

"Easy there Tiny…" Charlie laughed, as he waved the smoke away, "Don't take it personal!"

Bryan stood up and pointed a finger at Charlie, "Don't look down at a medic, you never know when you'll be looking up at one…"

"I would have to be layi… -Oh… Yeah…" Charlie nodded, suddenly realizing what Bryan was actually saying. "Copy that… Sorry…"

Another set of bombs and missiles went off in the distance. Causing all of the five younger Delta operators to quiet down.

"That one sounded closer…" Johnny frowned, sitting up straighter.

"Yeah well… We're only 22 miles from hell…" Jack sighed.

"That was a lot closer than 22 miles…" Bryan frowned.

"I think what cowboy number one there is saying is that we're 22 miles from the CENTER of HELL…" Charlie grimaced, rubbing his neck.

Jack nodded.

"You should get some rest boys… I got word that we're going to ' _hell_ ' tomorrow…" Jerry shot in from where he was resting on his bunk with a book.

The rest of the team chose not to acknowledge him.

"Charlie… I think you're wrong…" Jack leaned forward with a sideways grin.

"What?"

"I don't think your kid brother will stay as skinny as he is…"

"You've seen him, he's a twig…"

"Now, I saw old photos of you when I visited. You didn't exactly scream brute force back in the day."

Charlie shrugged, "okay, I might have gained a few pounds of muscle…"

"Gained a few pounds?" Jack laughed, "More like doubled your bodyweight!"

"He was that skinny?" Bryan asked, pointing at Charlie. "How the hell is that possible?"

"Dunno…" Jack chuckled, "He gained a lot of mass when we were training…"

"You could say I hit 18 and suddenly my body knew how to build…" Charlie shrugged, "But I wasn't _that_ skinny!"

"Take a good long hard look on those pictures next time you're visiting your mama. You looked like a stick figure!" Jack chuckled, Boxer nodding along.

"Box…" Charlie groaned, "Come on, man! I wasn't…"

"Yeah, you were!" Boxer threw back his head laughing, "It was like seeing the human reincarnation of a fluffy dog when it's wet!"

Charlie frowned as the rest of the squad laughed, and looked over at Boxer, "Look now Claude Ma-"

"Shut your face!" Boxer called out, throwing the closest item he could find at Charlie.

Charlie laughed as he removed the crumpled t-shirt from his face. "Relax, I wouldn't… No need to throw Wyatt's stinking laundry at me!"

"Hey!" Jack shot in, just as another bomb hit close to their camp, ensuring that the squad quieted down. Again.

"Look, kids…" Jerry sighed, "We're going out there tomorrow. Quit busting each other's balls and get some rest. You're gonna need it!"

 **Okay. That was the first chapter. I tried to write a few chapters before I posted this one. Made it to 1 ½… Then I couldn't behave myself any longer…**


	2. Chapter 2

**Well… Chapter 2… What should I do…**

"Check each other over. Make sure your buddy has all his gear, just assume he's an idiot…" Jerry Kammer sighed. "Especially you Bryan, make sure that wild child has all his stuff!"

Bryan chuckled as he looked up at Jack. "Got all your stuff JD?"

Jack rolled his eyes at the shorter medic.

"Only thing JD ever forgets is his self-preservation!" Bryan called back, smirking. Then he stuck his tongue out towards Jack.

"Well, Tiny forgot to bring his sense of humor!" Jack added over his shoulder.

"Quit calling me Tiny!" Bryan frowned and shoved Jack's shoulder forcefully, causing the taller man to let out a grunt and knead at his shoulder.

Jerry tried hiding his smile by looking down on John's vest.

"Come on now… Get your act together…" he called, "And play nice, we don't need to make enemies within our own squad… We've got way too many of those already…"

"What? Squads?" Charlie grinned, deliberately getting on their older team leader's nerves.

"I swear, the three of you are going to be the end of me…" Jerry sighed, "Enemies… We've got way too many enemies already…"

"Charlie… Do you have a wish of cleaning latrines for a couple of months?"

"No sir." Charlie was quick to answer, "Sorry…"

Their older team leader glanced over at the big Californian and smirked. "Thought so…"

They all finished checking each other's gear, and headed outside.

"Head for the Black Hawks, I've got to run over and deliver a thing to one of the chair heroes first…" Jerry looked at the group, "Be right back, we're headed out in 10…"

The guys nodded.

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"Man… There's gotta be better places to be than sitting on a crate somewhere in Somalia, waiting to fly out to Mogadishu…" John let his head fall back against the post with the speaker on. "You guys ever regret this job?"

"Once or twice…" Jack admitted, "But then I healed up and all is good…"

Charlie chuckled, "Yeah, well… Try not to regret the job after this assignment bud… I don't want to see your blood any more than I already have…"

Jack offered a cheesy grin, "Sorry 'bout that…"

Charlie shuddered, "Man, I thought we were gonna lose ya back then…"

"Let's never really talk about that again, huh? I can't remember being that scared ever before…" Boxer frowned, before he looked over at Jack "How's that shoulder by the way? It's not giving ya grief, is it?"

Jack shook his head, "Nothing to worry 'bout. And it's been two and a half years… I'm good, only thing left is the scars…"

Boxer nodded. "Man… I still have nightmares about that day… Sometimes."

"Well, we survived. Didn't we…?" Jack shrugged, "Try to let it go, or it's gonna eat ya up alive, buddy…"

Boxer nodded and kicked the dust. "I'm trying to… And I feel like a wimp, cause it doesn't seem to affect you anymore…"

Jack shook his head, "No, it still wakes me up in the middle of the night… Gonna do that for a long time I guess…"

Boxer nodded.

"Hey, I would probably have more trouble with it if it happened to any of you…" Jack sighed, "I'm not even sure I remember all of it, think I was in and out from the time you managed to get me to the Humvee and to I woke up after surgery…"

Charlie nodded, "Yeah, you drifted in and out. It was horrible to witness you know…"

Jack nodded, "I get it…"

"Hey. Why don't we talk about something a little less, I don't know, depressing…" Bryan nudged Boxer with his elbow, "We're already going out to war, no need to go over all our worst moments first…"

Jack nodded, "Guess you're right Tiny…"

"I'll let that one slide, because I kinda punched your shoulder earlier… Was it the bad one?"

Boxer let out a short laugh, "Man, I don't think it's 'good' or 'bad' anymore, I think Wyatt's shoulders go by 'bad' or 'worse'…"

Jack shook his head, "No, it's alright…"

"You sure?" Bryan asked.

"Totally…" Jack nodded. His shoulder was fine.

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"Alright kids… Climb in, we're going on a family road trip…" Jerry grinned as he came back. He gestured to one of the Little Birds and the guys started to climb up in it.

When the others had gone inside, Jerry followed. He went up front to the pilot, "How's the conditions today?"

"Sunny with a chance of RPGs…" the pilot shrugged, "Like every other flight in hostile areas ever…"

Jerry nodded, "Well, we better get going. Can't be the last ones to enter the party, now can we?"

The pilot chuckled, "No, we can't… But there's only one chopper which has headed out before us…"

"Good."

 **Okaaaay… Hope you're enjoying my writing, and that I'm not boring y'all to death.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Just sliding in here with another chapter.**

"In. Out. 30 minutes. Omar Salad Elmi and Mohamed Hassan Awale, they are our targets." Jerry repeated for the nth time, "Remember that boys, time is of the essence, it's a short raid."

Bryan nodded and placed one hand on the first aid kit he carried for the team. He hoped he wouldn't have to use it.

"Yes sir!" John nodded, gripping his gun tight. Everyone knew John struggled the most. He did good during the heavy action they experienced, but the before and after hit him harder than the others. But he was getting into the zone, going from a nervous semi-wreck to a cold soldier.

The second Little Bird touched down twenty seconds after the first one, and the second half of Delta Operators spilled out, quickly finding formation with the other team.

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"I've got one guy who's hit. And he's down." Jerry barely caught the words over the com. It was like 200 conversations were held at once. Everything seemed to fade to a blur.

Jerry held his hand up, signaling for the group of Delta operators to stop. He needed to hear this.

"Who is it, and what's his status?" Another voice sounded over the radio, the way he spoke made it an easy assumption that this was the man was in charge of the first other one.

There was a long pause. It felt like a minute, maybe even more.

"It's Pilla." The man paused again, steeling himself, "And he's dead."

The radio went dead silent. Nobody said anything. No one.

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"Hey! We've got to focus…" Jerry called out to the rest of the Deltas, "Our side has just had its first casualty, but we can't let that get to our heads. That breeds chaos, and not the good kind…"

Boxer nodded as he reached out to give Jack a supportive pat on the shoulder. He knew Jack probably felt as uneasy as he did himself. He still had nightmares about the last time any of them got hurt. The sight of an unconscious Jack as they carried him to the helicopter, all the blood. All the screaming he did before he passed out. Boxer remembered all of it, remembered everything about the day he thought he was about to lose one of his oldest and dearest friends.

"You good brother?" Charlie asked, with a quick nod in Jack's direction.

"Yeah, just hoping the three of us gets to see 27…" Jack rubbed his neck, "And that the others get to see their next birthday too…"

"If I was a praying man, I'd pray for that…" Charlie nodded.

 **Okay, so… Well, since this is a work of fiction, I might stray away from most of the info I could muster up about Mogadishu, Gothic Serpent and Black Hawk Down…**


End file.
